<p>My sister got a 720 on the Chemistry SAT II. She wants to go into science/engineering. Is it worth it to retake? My opinion is to definitely take but she wants to hear other people's thoughts. Also, she got a 720 on Math in the SAT I (760CR, 790W), so do you think that's worth retaking or do you think the SAT II Math IIC can cover if she gets 800?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>It shouldn't hurt. </p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=4198038&postcount=1%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=4198038&postcount=1</a> </p>
<p>Whether it is worthwhile or not depends on the college she is applying to and what else she could do with that time.</p>
<p>the general rule of thumb for me is that SAT IIs under 750 should be retaken... Maybe its just me :)</p>
<p>^^well i guess i have to retake every satii or i'll never go to college.</p>
<p>your sister should take IIC and get a good grade on it, preferably 750+, which isn't too hard. The Chem and Math grades so far are fine..but if she has the chance to retake SAT I then do so. What colleges is she looking at? that's the key here.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>lol not really my rule of thumb, but when your parents are helping to pay for college, their rule of thumb is your rule of thumb :)</p>
<p>it CAN hurt, in other areas....if she got a 720 while the information was still fresh, after months of NOT even looking at Chemistry, she will need to study more</p>
<p>that time will take away time for other studying, school work, ECs, etc, so is it worth the time to MAYBE go up a few points, sacrificing time in other more valuable areas</p>
<p>remember, those senior grades count</p>
<p>and her SAT scores are fine as well</p>
<p>what, you guys want everyone to get 800s on everything and keep trying until they do?</p>
<p>a 2270 is a very nice score for heavens sake for almost ALL schools, which are a crap shoot even for perfect scores</p>
<p>NO school will reject someone out of hand for a 2270 with that 720 in chem</p>
<p>She's looking at a lot of top tier schools, such as MIT, Princeton, Stanford, UPenn, etc.</p>
<p>The only thing is that even though 2270 is decent, the math score is low, and since she's going into science/engineering, that could be especially bad.</p>
<p>that was not your question, it was about chem2, a test I would assume one needs to spend time brushing up on at a minimum to have a chance of breaking even the score you already have</p>
<p>I don't assume that she would need to, I plan on being a chem major and was accepted to Columbia submitting a 730 chem SAT II</p>
<p>Your sister should know that her 720 puts her score at the 74th percentile. To put that into perspective, the 74th percentile on the SAT I Critical Reading is a 580. The 74th percentile on the SAT I Math is a 600.</p>
<p>All this information is available from the College Board: <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/prof/counselors/tests/sat/scores/data_tables.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeboard.com/prof/counselors/tests/sat/scores/data_tables.html</a>.</p>
<p>It's not a fatal score. All the same, I'd retake, especially if she wants to major in the subject.</p>
<p>I do agree with tokenadult, though, that it depends quite a bit on what she'd have to give up in order to retake.</p>
<p>I don't know how to quote....</p>
<p>"I don't assume that she would need to, I plan on being a chem major and was accepted to Columbia submitting a 730 chem SAT II"-schmivy </p>
<p>Not even remotely considering chem as a major, but into Brown with a 730.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Your sister should know that her 720 puts her score at the 74th percentile. To put that into perspective, the 74th percentile on the SAT I Critical Reading is a 580. The 74th percentile on the SAT I Math is a 600.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This reasoning doesn't really hold up.</p>
<p>The SAT I is taken by essentially everyone who applies to college. The SAT II Chemistry test is only taken by people who are applying to very selective colleges and who are at least fairly good at chemistry. Being in the 74th percentile of that highly selected group is not the same as being in the 74th percentile of the overall population of college applicants.</p>
<p>I didn't mean to suggest that a 720 was the exact equivalent in every way of a 580 CR/600 M; it's clearly not, for just the reasons you mentioned. I just intended to give a little context for the number 74.</p>
<p>I was trying to make it clear that a 720 on the Chem is not comparable to a 720 on an SAT I section. Maybe it would have been more helpful to provide this comparison instead:</p>
<p>A 720 on the SAT I CR or SAT I Math is a very high score; it put you in the 96th %ile. On the other hand, a 720 on the Chem only puts you in the 74th %ile. </p>
<p>That still doesn't compare apples to apples, but that's just my point. Most people don't compare apples to apples when they're thinking about the SAT I v. the SAT II. They subconsciously use SAT I benchmarks to decide whether their SAT scores are "good" or not. </p>
<p>They either don't know or don't take into account that SAT II mean scores tend to be significantly higher than SAT I mean scores.</p>
<p>Just as a 580 CR or a 600 M puts you behind 26% of most people in the country who are applying to college (your broad competition), so a 720 on the Chem II puts you behind 26% of those people in the country who are applying to selective colleges (your direct competition).</p>
<p>I don't want to derail this thread. I'm preparing to retake the SAT in October. I received my subject test scores yesterday. If my complete testing record looks like the following by October, should I bother to do anything with the SAT IIs? I plan on applying early decision to either Brown/PLME, UPenn SEAS, or Columbia Fu Foundation.</p>
<p>
[quote]
SAT: (March) 2000 [720M/580CR-bubbling mistake/700WR] --> (October) 2250+ [800M/750+CR/700+WR]
SAT II Math I: (Dec, 06) 680
SAT II Bio: Molecular (Dec, 06) 630 --> Ecology (June) 660
SAT II Math II/C: (June) 720
SAT II Chem: (May) 680 --> (June) 730
AP Chem: 4
AP US History: 5
AP Psychology: 5
AP English Lang/Comp:4
[/quote]
</p>
<p>[For Math I, I had major time issues. I don't know what happened with the recent biology test, but I think it might have been scored wrong. I was so sure, and I was nailing Barron's practice tests too, with really really high scores. I sent in a request to get the May chem rescored three weeks ago. I was so sure, and I'm almost positive they made a mistake because of the consolidated answer list posted here. Surprisingly, I did better on the June test, when I thought I had really screwed that up. I also had a bit trouble on the last ten questions on Math II.]</p>
<p>"what, you guys want everyone to get 800s on everything and keep trying until they do?"</p>
<p>Well said, citygirlsmom. Some of you are scary about this. I just looked at that thread that said "750 and 760 for my third SAT, should I retake?" For god's sake, guys. I think it would be painful to put that pressure on yourself constantly. There IS life after college admissons.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Your sister should know that her 720 puts her score at the 74th percentile. To put that into perspective, the 74th percentile on the SAT I Critical Reading is a 580. The 74th percentile on the SAT I Math is a 600.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>800 in Korean puts you in 70% or so. By your logic it should be retaken...</p>
<p>sell your soul to the collegeboard</p>
<p>Come on, nngmm, you know my point. :)</p>
<p>The Korean SAT II test is an exception. I should know; I'm a hakwon director. Nearly everyone who takes that test is a native speaker.</p>
<p>The reality is that an 800 on the Korean SAT II test does very little for your college application <em>because</em> it puts you in the 69 %ile. Even if you get an 800, you shouldn't usually count it as one of your 2-3 minimum SAT IIs if you're applying to a highly competitive college, unless you're one of the very very few students who took it as a nonnative speaker. I sometimes do actually recommend that people "retake" that score in a certain sense. . . I recommend that they take a different SAT II :) . . . because the SAT Korean won't help set you apart.</p>